bustle1
/ˈbʌs(ə)l
/verb [no object, with adverbial of direction]
1Move in an energetic and busy manner: people clutching clipboards bustled about...
- Stevie Crawford, with 10 goals in 13 games to his credit, bustled energetically, twisting and turning the Morton defenders repeatedly.
- Kisangani - The rising sun is already burning a brilliant path across the muddy vastness of the mighty Congo river as the group of busy women bustle around the night's catch.
- He stopped in his tracks and looked around, a monstrous task with all the students bustling around him like busy bees.
Synonyms
rush, dash, scurry, scuttle, scamper, scramble, flutter, fuss;
hurry, hasten, make haste, race, run, sprint, tear, shoot, charge, chase, career;
British scutter
informal scoot, beetle, whizz, buzz, hare, zoom, zip
1.1 [with object and adverbial of direction] Cause to move hurriedly in a particular direction: she bustled us into the kitchen...
- Douglas had one more special save to make as Spencer refused to capitulate, bustling his way into the box but it would not really have mattered as time ran out.
- In a sense it's almost claustrophobic, with all the buildings huddled together and the people bustling their way through.
- The young Kilmarnock side were alternately being bustled out of possession and giving the ball away when they won it, which was surely the cause of Durrant's ire.
Synonyms
hustle, bundle, sweep, push, hurry, rush, whisk, whip
1.2 [no object] (Of a place) be full of activity: the streets bustled with people (as adjective bustling) the bustling little town...
- The town was bustling with activity as they prepared for the holiday season.
- The ship was once again bustling with busy pirates moving and taking whatever they could.
- It's built-up, it's busy and it's bustling, but I still reckon £250 for renting a little red hotel round here is a bit steep.
Synonyms
busy, crowded, swarming, teeming, full, astir, buzzing, hectic, lively, vibrant, thronging, thronged;
energetic, active
informal buzzy
British informal like Piccadilly Circus
noun [mass noun]
Excited activity and movement: all the noise and the traffic and the bustle...
- Life today is a great sea of bustle and activity with everyone on the move.
- He sits, away from the hustle and bustle of on-field activity, coolly calculating the options.
- The whole first act consists of the protesters' excitement and bustle as they get ready.
Synonyms
activity, hustle and bustle, animation, commotion, flurry, tumult, hubbub, busyness, action, liveliness, movement, life, stir, excitement, agitation, fuss, whirl
informal toing and froing, comings and goings, to-do
archaic hurry-scurry, pother
Origin
Late Middle English: perhaps a variant of obsolete buskle, frequentative of busk 'prepare', from Old Norse.
Rhymes
bustle2
/ˈbʌs(ə)l/noun historical
A pad or frame worn under a skirt and puffing it out behind.This staged cross-dressing was a great shock to audiences used to only seeing women on stage when they were hidden behind voluminous bustles, hoops and frills....
- The women became blimps in massive gathered skirts, bustles and crinolines.
- If you stand ten feet away, you might see men in top hats, women in long skirts and bustles, children, pets, shimmering water.
Origin
Late 18th century: of unknown origin.